People's Republic of China

Politics and economу

The People’s Republic of China is a socialist republic. The highest legislative power is exercised by the National People's Congress of China.

China is the world's second largest economy after the United States by purchasing power parity and the world's fastest-growing major economy, with average growth rates of 10% for the past 30 years. It is also the second largest trading nation in the world and the world’s largest exporter and second largest importer of goods.

The Chinese banking system is composed of two-levels: the People’s bank of China which performs the functions of the central bank, and a number of specialized state-owned banks. The national currency is Renmimbi.

National AML/CFT regime

China started developing a national AML/CFT regime at the end of the 1990s. Since then comprehensive AML/CFT legislation has been adopted. The country has been also continuously enhancing preventative measures in the financial sector.
In January 2005 China joined the FATF as an observer and became a fully-fledged member in 2007. China is also a member of the APG.

China has ratified the main international counter-terrorist conventions. Chinese criminal law identifies money laundering as a serious offence. Following the 2001 decision of the national legislator – the National People's Congress of China – terrorism has been included in the range of money-laundering related crimes. Terrorist financing is also criminalized.

The People’s Bank of China (PBC) is the main national body coordinating AML/CFT activities in the country including suspicious transaction monitoring and international AML/CFT standard implementation.

China’s financial intelligence unit (FIU) is located in the PBC. The FIU functions have been divided between two PBC units: the Anti-Money Laundering Bureau (AMLB) and the China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center (CAMLMAC).

The Anti-Money Laundering Bureau (AMLB) organizes and coordinates China’s AML affairs, and carries out administrative investigation, dissemination and policy oversight. Decisions about whether to carry out an administrative investigation into a Suspicious Transition Report (STR) or to disseminate an STR to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) or other law enforcement agencies are made under AML Law.

The AMLB carries out its activities directly through its regional and local PBC branches. Regional and local PBC branches have administrative jurisdiction over a specified geographical region, such as a province or large urban area. At a provincial level, there are 36 AML divisions.

The China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center (CAMLMAC) specializes in data collection, processing and analysis. Its function is to receive and analyze STRs and Large-value Transaction Reports (LVTs), and transfer STRs to the AMLB after its analysis. CAMLMAC acts as the central point of contact for foreign FIUs (article 10 of the AML Law). CAMLMAC has accepted citizens’ appeals since 2005.

The heads of the AMLB and CAMLMAC both report to a single deputy governor. The current Director General of AMLB is Ms. Jin Luo. The current Director General of CAMLMAC is Mr. Luo Yubing.

Cooperation with the EAG

China is one of the EAG founding members. Mutual evaluation of China by the FATF with the EAG’s participation took place in November 2006. Following the recommendations of the evaluation, China has been continuously enhancing national legislation and its AML/CFT regime.